New Award and another Brag!

Mom had a breakthrough and figured out how to copy this award from Dewey Dewster! I think Mom needs an award for figuring this out! (yea, clap clap)

I'd like to pass this on to:

Isabella (our long-lost poodle pal!)

and probably everybody I know has already been tagged! Oh well...

Mom didn't think to take pics of the garden today, our big conservation effort these days, but for the other challenge of Dewey's, here are a couple of things we're doing to conserve around here:

We got a newer, more energy-efficient front door last year (and windows in 2004) --


Replaced a lot of old gray PVC pipe in the kitchen with copper, since the old stuff tends to BREAK (ask Mom and Uncle Dennis about the Great Flood of 2005). Wasted a lot of water that night and on earlier leaks!



They try to keep the lights turned off a lot:



("Hey I can't see in here!")


And now I have another brag for ya -- been saving this one ---
I'm a cover boy in the latest issue of our Bedlington breed quarterly! They featured some performance Bedlingtons and Mom got me a pic on the cover with some of my pals! Check it out, I'm on the lower right, flying out of an agility tunnel in Louisville KY last year:



Then all the Moms wrote a little bit about their doggies on the inside. Mom's article is on the right (you'll want to click on it to be able to read anything!)



Mom thought this issue was the best since the cover looked so nice. They usually have someone's dog show win picture and that gets really old after a few hundred issues.

You all have a great rest-of-the-weekend!

Love,
Rudy

Jumpin' Josie

Hi again!

Mom has been so wiped out since last weekend's 3-day agility trials but I finally convinced her to get UP and help me blog again... We haven't done much this week but recover. Josie did find something new to entertain us (more later).

And of course the pics of last weekend haven't arrived yet so I have to show you a pic of another dog running there --- just add a little fuzzy hair and imagine it's me!

This Jack Russell's name is (can you believe it) Evil! She ran like something evil was chasing her! zzzzzzzzoooommmm....



Josie only ran once on Saturday in Novice Jumpers, her second time ever at a trials, and darned if she didn't win the 16-inch class. I better watch my back, Josie's going to catch me if I'm not careful! Here she is in the middle with her ribbon, me on the left, her grandma Emmy on the right. Mom was very proud of her, she also got a baggie full of cookies as a prize!



Emmy wants me to say she also won a ribbon on Saturday in her Open Jumpers class, a third-place ribbon. With that she earned her OAJ title (Open Agility Jumper). Mom says she's too slow to move up to Excellent and has to work on her speed if she wants to get anywhere! (Emmy: Well I didn't know she wanted me to RUN...) Somehow Mom didn't get to take the picture with Emmy.. shame shame...

I didn't get a thing the whole weekend! Mom made too many stupid mistakes and although I did everything she told me to, unfortunately that wasn't right! Baaaad Mom! She needs more training. I'm so tired of training that woman. We got SO close a few times. She won a raffle for a $25 Visa card. She should take it and get another handling lesson!

And now the entertainment... Josie has become quite proud of her two ribbons in agility so far and thinks she's a great jumper. (hah! Try what I do!) So now she's started hopping up to the top of her crate in the laundry room and sleeping on Mom's clean clothes during the day. Just wait 'til Mom finds out Josie, you'll be in big trouble.

Here is the little delinquent caught in the act:



You can't tell but that's a 4-foot-tall pen around that crate! She had spent the whole day on top sleeping on those clean things (not clean any more). (MOM: note to self -- clean that room!!!!)

Now there's a baby gate fastened to the top so Miss Josie can't hop up there anymore. Mom's afraid Josie will put a foot through the bars and hurt herself.
Uncle Dennis said Mom should stop training us in agility -- Mom has created a monster! No, Mom, I'll make sure she won't jump up there anymore, just don't quit taking us to agility pleeeze!

Love,
Rudy

Action Shots from Hanna

Hi!

We just got our pictures from last weekend in the mail today, so here are a few of me running while Hanna was pouring rain on us.

Boy was it pouring down rain! Mom had no idea what was coming next...



As soon as she saw me blast out of the tunnel, our first obstacle, with that wild look in my eye and legs flying, she went "Uh oh!" and started running!!



I'm havin' a good time ... see how wet my back is getting? Doesn't bother me!



Looks like Mom's ready to slip and fall! She's just crossing behind me to get me to go left over another jump. We had just finished the A-frame behind us.



It was raining so much, the chute obstacle was collecting water on it and every time a dog would run through, a shower of raindrops came flying up! COOL...



I got sooo wet after that! This is the last jump on the course --



The next day Mom was talking to the judge for this run and she said I was so much fun to watch! Wonder what she meant by that? (MOM: how about the extra jumps you took at MACH speed??)

I'll have to post some more pics from last weekend but Mom's tired. We went to another trials today and I had a lot of fun there, too. No ribbons, but a ton of fun like I usually have, and the same photographer was there so there will be more pics from today.

Time to rest up for more fun tomorrow and Sunday --

Love,
Rudy

The Day After

Oh my dog, the day after Hanna came charging through was beautiful! What a change. No more pouring rain and we could all see where we were going. The ground never got muddy 'cause we haven't had much rain this summer. Emmy got happier and ran much better -- you wouldn't believe it but she was 24 seconds over time in her Jumpers run yesterday. I think Mom's turtle Suzy could've run faster!

This is a pic of the Novice Jumpers course that Josie ran. Notice the sunshine!



And here's a pic of the Excellent Standard course I ran in the morning. This little dog running here is so fast, I could never catch her!



I ran so well in Standard, we actually qualified! Believe it or not, I was the only one in my class (16 inches) who did! It wasn't that bad a course; I was in Excellent A and this was the second leg towards my AX title.
Mom was so proud of me, she took this pic of me, my ribbon, and my toy!



Josie had a great time her first time out doing a trials. Mom thought she'd like to come and play. She's used to being at dog shows and Earthdog tests, and even went to that lure coursing practice, so she's good in crowds. She ran really well but Mom kept forgetting she wasn't running me, she was running Josie! (I'm so unforgettable..tee hee). Mom says Josie's going to be fast. They made it through the course and got second place in the 16 inches class of Novice Jumpers.
Yeaaa!



Like I said, Emmy was MUCH happier today and ran her Open Jumpers course with no faults, just 4 seconds over time. She's kind of slow, so 4 seconds over isn't so bad. She was first in her class too! We were knocking 'em dead today!



When I ran Jumpers, we ran really well -- too bad the judge saw me do a wrong entry on those weaves! We re-did them and then went on. It was a really nice run on a course with some tricky places. Weaves have always been a sore spot with us!
I was so tired from the whole weekend I had to lay down in the shade in front of the tent:




It was a great weekend even with all that rain yesterday. Lots more people showed up today, so I was able to get more people to pet me. Mom got me a half hour with the massage lady before my Standard run, so I was good and warmed up. She ordered a bunch of pictures the photographer took of me in Standard both days, so that should be interesting. We'd never been to this trials but it's so close to home, Mom's going to put it on our calendar. She liked the judges too. Between the trials and having 2 dates with Ciapka this weekend, I'm one happy boy:




The fun never ends -- this week our agility classes start up again, so Josie and Emmy have class Monday night and I have my monthly private lesson AND my weekly class on Tuesday night. Just in case we get too lazy, Mom's got me entered in a 3-day trials NEXT weekend. argh. Emmy's going Saturday and Sunday, and Josie's going on Sunday. Hope we don't get any more rain!

Love,
Rudy

My Day and Tropical Storm Hanna

I sure had an exciting day! Mom didn't think it would be nice enough to do any agility so she wasn't expecting to be able to run but when we got there it wasn't even raining. She set up part of the tent so we could have some cover from the rain. It kept out some of the rain 'til the breeze kicked up. We got a little bit of rain starting at 8:00 and it got really bad around 10:00 and by the time we got out at noon, it was a washout. We all were soaked!

This pic shows the people setting up both rings as we arrived. No rain yet!



Then the skies opened up and everyone was squeezing under the tents next to the ring waiting for their turn to run.



Mom had to get creative with the few tarps she had in order to keep the breeze from blowing rain on me and Emmy in the crate. She let our whippet friends set up their crate inside our tent before moving it out to the ring area. At this time it was raining pretty hard! (I'm the one in the crate you can barely see)



Emmy absolutely hated the rain and although she ran clean in her Open Jumpers class, she was pretty slow. And I'm an all-weather kind of guy, rain won't stop me! Mom was so suprised at how fast I was running in the pouring rain. It's only water! We didn't get any ribbons but that's all Mom's fault, it always is...

So remember how handsome I looked for my big date the other night? This is how I looked AFTER agility this morning:



So I looked like this for my second date this afternoon! Oh ick! We left the show grounds at noon 'cause everything was over. Lots of humans decided to keep their doggies home and only the hard-core humans brought their dogs today. So it was over fast! Mom drove to my breeder Miss Linda's house so I could have an early 'date' instead of having to wait 'til later. I was alright with that!

And here's my 'woman', her name is Ciapka, Polish for 'lamb'. She looks 'lamb-y' don't you think?



After the date was over, while we were still at Miss Linda's, I had to get a bath so JOSIE wouldn't smell Ciapka on me and beat me up (she's so jealous). I can't believe I had to get wet AGAIN! Ciapka's going home today with her mom, I think she missed her Mom very much.



And all this time it was raining like crazy. Just getting from the show grounds to Miss Linda's house was treacherous. We ran into two flooded-out roads trying to get there, and finally took the long way to her house. At one washed-out road, she watched a Jeep go through water over 3 feet deep, and it was up to his headlights and he made it through. She wasn't about to try it in Uncle Dennis's Jeep! She knew the roads going home would be worse, and they were.

This is the main road home -- see how flooded the other side is? When we came the other way, that side was OK and the creek area was just high, close to the road. We saw cars driving through, some with water up to their headlights! Some of the cars sputtered and died and had to rest by the side of the road. Too scary!



We got up to the intersection which was also flooded and the police had just closed off the flooded side. I think that was a wise decision! All the cars had to cross the median and go back the way they came.



Then a few minutes after we finally got home around 3:00, all the power went out! Fortunately it only lasted maybe 10 minutes. What a day! Emmy and I are finally dry (she's threatened to tell Josie about Ciapka if I don't give her some of my treats, as she was there when we had our date!) and I'm going to take a long nap. Mom's finally dried out -- humans hate getting their clothes all wet -- tsk, tsk.

Just think, we have to do it all over again tomorrow! I'm told Hanna won't be around to make it interesting getting home. Josie's coming along to play so Mom will be busy running all 3 of us. Talk about tired! At least we'll be dry..
(hey I think it's stopped raining -- woohoo)

Love,
Rudy

I'm In the Mood For Love....

--- simply because you're near me!

Well, not yet anyway. Mom gave me some great news tonight that got me so excited I could hardly stand it! She said I have a girlfriend coming over to my breeder's place and I should get a bath and comb my hair and get ready for my date! rooo..rooo..roooooooo!
Tomorrow night I get to meet her so I have to get ready ---

Here I am after my bath and blow-dry, just as handsome as can be.



Yet something's missing... hmmm....

Mom had a great idea -- put me in a tuxedo! Yeah, that's the ticket ---



Wow when my girlfriend sees me in this penguin suit she'll either swoon or fall down laughing!
Here's one more pic of me showing off my bow tie:




It's going to be a busy weekend. Mom's got me, Emmy, and Josie running agility both days yet I have this hot date. Now you guy dogs out there, which would YOU rather do??

I was tired after all that bathing and brushing and posing, and before that Mom had me and Josie practicing weave poles in the back yard. I couldn't stand one more picture in that suit, as you can see here:



It's hard work being so handsome (heh heh). I'm just happy Mom couldn't find my smoking jacket!!!!!

Love,
Rudy